Thinking About Getting a Pet Bunny?
by Makiko Igami
Summary: So, I visited a website with the title of this story. I started reading it and half-way through I decided to write this story. Probably only half of what you think it is. ;;


**Title**: Thinking About Getting a Pet Bunny?  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Pairings**: none, Kotetsu/Barnaby-bromance  
**Wordcount**: 3,151 (with notes)  
**Spoilers**: For the whole series.  
**Warnings**: There's one scene in the middle that's a bit ridiculous. I apologize if you find that offensive.  
**Disclaimer**: I spend a whole lot of money on merchandise, but yet it's not enough to make me own anything.  
**Summary**: So, I visited a website with the title of this story. I started reading it and half-way through I decided to write this story.

* * *

"Alright," Kotetsu mumbled, put on a pair of reading glasses that he only used when absolutely no one was around, and adjusted himself in his seat in front of the computer that he was using, "this is silly, but we're finally getting somewhere."

He had made sure that there would be no disturbances - well, an emergency call was an emergency call, but otherwise he muted his phones and locked the door - before he started reading.

_'Thinking About Getting a Pet Bunny?'_

He read the title, pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head slightly. Was he really doing this? Ah well, nothing else had helped, maybe this would get him somewhere. Blinking and moving his eyebrows to relax his eyes, he continued reading until he was as prepared as one could be for the acquisition of a little jumper with long ears.

_'Rabbits need social interaction, plenty of exercise, and a lot of enrichment activities.'_

Kotetsu glanced over where they sat at their desks in Apollon Media's office, the secretary in front of them typing away merrily, probably adding up his fines to present them to Mr. Lloyds later. Barnaby was staring just as intently at his screen while Kotetsu's was simply full with nonsense, a few internet pages with jokes open to waste his time. His back was feeling a little stiff, so he tried to suggest something.

"Hey, Bunny," he said, then needed to clear his throat because he hadn't been speaking for so long.

"What is it, old man?" came the flat out reply, dripping with annoyance.

"Um, how about... we go to the gym and have a sparring? My back is feeling funny and I think some exercise would be... helpful?" Kotetsu suggested, picking his words carefully. He had noticed that the blond's shoulders were also rather stiff and then there was the fact that Barnaby seemed to be quite the physical person when he wasn't stubbornly staring at his computer screen, doing research or writing reports or whatever he was doing.

The typing stopped, which unnerved the man, but he just waited for an answer.

"...I guess it'd be alright... if you're finished with your reports, that is," Barnaby sighed, before he turned to give his partner a stern look.

A cough masked Kotetsu's nervous laugh as he remembered that he still had those sitting on his desktop, where he would see them when he started up his computer, just to have them covered by various windows with nonsense right about then.

"Sure, I finished them!" he replied enthusiastically. "Besides, I think it'd be nice to meet up with the other heroes at the gym. We could test out our powers against them to, uh, get better acquainted to their tactics and find out just how they'd behave in battle... Research, right?"

"I already know-" Barnaby started to protest, but by then, Kotetsu had already grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the exit, while he adjusted his hat with his free hand.

"Yeah, I know you know already, but we should work as a team, right? Means we _both_should know what you know, so you can show me while we train, okay?"

Barnaby was obviously not so sure that this was a good idea, but he followed the other without further protest.

Needless to say, they didn't even manage to get to the gym because Agnes called them into a mission. Still, Kotetsu felt a sense of satisfaction for his own actions and a little closer to his partner than before.

_'A great diversion for rabbits is a cardboard castle.'_

Kotetsu stared at the display on his left arm, then looked up in the old warehouse that was presumably the base of the criminals they had been chasing. Barnaby was on a higher level than him, looking around with his suit's scanners and cameras.

By all means, Kotetsu wondered if now was the right time and place to be thinking about Rabbit-keeping, but seeing Barnaby move around and examine every nook and cranny until he was certain that there wasn't a clue anywhere had him think about that article he read. He shook his head, just to see some movement in the corner of his eyes.

"Bunny!" he called out and lowered his faceplate, just to hurry after what he thought was the criminal. Just as he had expected, his partner followed him without a second thought, despite his earlier speech just how much he didn't trust him.

_'Proper nutrition (and in the correct amounts) is vital for a rabbit's well-being.'_

Kotetsu watched with increasing worry how Barnaby's diet was progressing. It was healthy, but then again, it was too healthy for somebody in their business where you needed a lot of calories to burn. The blond's pale skin and dark bags under his eyes spoke a language of malnutrition that Kotetsu knew just too well. Yes, he had tried making fried rice for him before, but that had gone to waste, thanks to the mayor's son, and since then, he had had no time to visit his partner's apartment - which certainly could use some 'diversion' other than that big screen of his.

Thus, he invited him to his favorite steak restaurant.

To be fair, he didn't know if Barnaby was a vegetarian or not, but he was pretty sure that he had seen him eat meat before, at least he had ordered some during that interview Agnes had forced upon them at the beginning of their partnership. Even if, he knew that just salads and vegetables were definitely not enough for somebody like them. For the love of all that was holy, a good steak now and then certainly wouldn't hurt.

"Old man, where are we going?" Barnaby asked as he crossed a corner into a rather dark alley.

"Don't you worry! It's just here, a very good restaurant! They have excellent wines as well," he emphasized, knowing that Barnaby liked a good rose wine every now and then.

"...A steak house?" Barnaby asked, doubt and questions ringing in his tone.

"Yep! They have the best beef steaks in the city, just ask Rock Bison, he knows where to find the best beef in town being a cow himself, hehehe," Kotetsu cackled as he held the door open for his partner. Things had been going well for them, ever since Kotetsu started to remember the little rules of having a pet bunny. Which was quite hilarious, when you thought about it too long.

"...you're hopeless," Barnaby sighed. "I'm not paying for your meal!" He added as he walked in and immediately let his charm win over the waitress before Kotetsu could ask for the table he had reserved beforehand.

Of course they got a table that was ten times better than the one he reserved, but he didn't mind. As long as Barnaby ate well...

"Do you trust me?" he asked as he peered over the edge of the menu that he wasn't really studying because he already knew what he wanted.

"No," Barnaby said flat-out without even looking up from the menu in his hands, having Kotetsu wail dejectedly.

"Come on! You already trusted me to get here!" he tried to reason. "I will order what I think you'll like best, so please-"

The blond finally raised his eyes to the top of his glasses, giving Kotetsu a long measuring look, before he sighed and closed his menu. "Fine, but I better a salad as a side dish or else I'm ordering one myself."

"I got it, I got it!" Kotetsu replied enthusiastically, waving at the waitress to take their orders. He ordered a large plate of various steaks, beef, pork, turkey and even some other meats that was meant for at least three people and when the waitress wanted to protest that they couldn't get all of this, he cut her off by saying that they were very hungry and that they'd take home whatever was leftover. And on the side he ordered home made fries and two salads from the salad bar, asking her for recommendations on what rose wine to go with that. Naturally, she suggested the most expensive one on the menu, which suited him, even despite the fact that he probably didn't have the money for all of that. He heard Barnaby sigh as the waitress left and he turned his head around with raised eyebrows.

"What?"

"You don't have money for all of that, do you?" Barnaby asked. There was surprisingly little malice in his voice.

"Huh? What? Nah, come on, I'm making as much money as you do, I can afford to treat you to a nice meal every now and then!" the older man said cheerfully, even if he was hurting on the inside. Normally he'd bully Antonio into paying for him when he owed him too much money, so he knew just how expensive this would get, but for then, it was fine. All to win over the Bunny's heart.

"...you make it sound like we're on a date," the blond dead-panned, with a slight smile curling the edges of his lips.

"Huh?!" Kotetsu said, honestly surprised. He mulled over the words he had been using just to flush deeply in embarrassment when he realized that the blond was right. "Ah! I'm sorry, I don't- I mean... Um, this isn't... I'm just... This is just between you and I as friends, okay?"

Barnaby chuckled softly, a small sound that was mostly hidden by the other guests' chatter and the loose fist that covered his mouth. "No need to get all flustered, old man. I know you don't date these days."

"Hey!" Even if it was the truth, it wasn't like Kotetsu didn't want to or would not. He just didn't have the time or money to do so.

"How else would you have the time and money to take me out here, hm?" Barnaby added with a very cocky grin, that had Kotetsu take a double take.

"...Could you... could you be joking?" he asked, because he hadn't known that his partner was capable of such things.

The blond snorted and gave him a genuine smile that made Kotetsu blush again and think that they were indeed on a date, because the last time he had reacted like that was on his first date with Tomoe.

"Old man, you don't know anything about me."

On the night just after he had returned from his hometown, the resolution to quit his job still fresh on his mind, Kotetsu woke up with a start, sweat all over his body and he stared at the ceiling because the dream he had just had. It wasn't his usual nightmare of falling or being unable to pull his wife out of a dark pool of goo, but something entirely different.

_"Kotetsu-san," Barnaby had said in his most pathetic voice while he was sitting on the floor in a highly uncomfortable position._

He had realized they were at his home and neither Barnaby's nor Kotetsu's apartment. His mother was nowhere to be seen, nor was Kaede or Muramasa. The floor had looked funny, too, but Kotetsu had already forgotten about the details.

What he hadn't forgotten about though was the fact that _Barnaby had peed his pants_. There was a telltale dark spot on his crotch that he tried to hide with his arms, that he tried to rub off.

Kotetsu didn't remember what that had been about, but he remembered that extreme change in environment made bunnies sometimes forget their good habits and pee on the floor. But damn, Barnaby?!

Sometimes he wondered what his brain was really on about and he turned around, trying to forget that he had just dreamt all of this and hoped that it would be forgotten by the next day.

Luckily he didn't remember a thing about this when he met up with Barnaby to meet Kriem.

_'Rabbits can be quite affectionate animals, but personalities definitely vary from individual to individual.'_

"Kotetsu-san, Kotetsu-san!"

Barnaby's voice was hard to hear over all the pain that was currently numbing all his senses. Kotetsu tried to move, but he just couldn't find the strength to and he was pretty sure that he would black out every second. What he could hear though broke his heart to a certain degree, all the pain and affection and the trust that Barnaby had in him, all of this surfaced now. Hell, he even told him that he had been practicing how to make fried rice.

Moved to tears, Kotetsu could only say what he felt from the bottom of his heart, but for some reason he ended up being too fascinated by Barnaby's eyelashes to be be really saying anything of substance before the world turned black.

So, remembering that it was his responsibility to tell Barnaby just how much he felt for his stupid little bunny because that stupid little bunny was just so affected to him that it almost hurt, Kotetsu managed to find the strength to save the day _and_ say a cool line about it before aforementioned Bunny came running to wrap him into a bone-crushing hug.

He was probably glad that Blue Rose was crying so noisily, because it covered up the small sobs that Kotetsu was able to hear from his partner.

_'Adopting a rabbit is a long-term commitment. Rabbits are NOT low-maintenance pets. So adopting a bunny should be a family decision.'_

"Um..." Kotetsu started, trying to reintroduce his partner to his brother and his daughter. He was pretty sure they knew who he was and why he would want to introduce them, but it was quite difficult to do so without a plan.

"Kotetsu. Stop fretting. We know who Barnaby is and what you owe him. We still have to ask mom, but I think it'll be safe to say that it's okay for him to spend the holidays with us," Muramasa said in his usual half-annoyed tone. He had followed Kaede to pick her up after he had learned she had run away to help her father, but Kotetsu knew that he would have come himself to kick the asses whoever had declared him a bad guy.

"Is it really okay?" Barnaby asked in a tone so meek Kotetsu had never expected from his usually so cocksure partner. "It's a very intimate family-celebration, I wouldn't want to disturb-"

"You wouldn't be a disturbance!" Kotetsu interrupted quickly. "It... I don't know how mom'll react, but I wouldn't want you to be alone right now! You don't deserve to be alone. Especially now. I'll be there for you whenever you need me, so, um, you're coming with us now. If that's okay with you, that is."

Kaede was the first to break out into laughter at his rather violent outburst, but soon Muramasa's chuckled joined in and he broke out into one of his rare, rather paternal smiles. "Of course. I already said it's fine for him to join us, but I guess you two need to heal up a bit first. Especially you, young man," he added and poked his brother's chest that was still bandaged up after being hit by the laser gun. Barnaby was better off, but he was still hobbling when we was walking due to the flesh wound to his thigh. Kotetsu on the other hand was still bound to the bed by doctors' orders, even though he'd much rather be at home right then.

He sighed and closed his eyes. "Alright, alright, I'll stay here until the doctor's allow me to go. You two go home and tell mom I'll be taking Bunny with me for the New Years, okay?"

"Best Christmas-present ever, dad!" Kaede cheered and hugged her father tightly before she and Muramasa left to pack his things.

When they were gone, Kotetsu looked up at his partner, who took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Thank you," Barnaby said quietly.

"Ah, no need to thank me. it's all in the family," Kotetsu smiled, but Barnaby shook his head.

"No, I mean it. I... I don't know where I would be without you. You believed in me even when I was attacking and accusing you of things you'd never do, I'm sorry for that."

Looking at his partner's sorry face, Kotetsu could swear he saw a pair of droopy ears hanging down in shame. He chuckled softly as he realized that he had been quite successful at this 'getting a pet bunny'-thing.

"You weren't yourself and I've been through a lot worse things. No need to beat yourself up over it," Kotetsu said softly and squeezed the other's hand back. "I owe you so much as we'll, so now it's my turn to make you happy."

The ears that weren't really there twitched happily as Barnaby broke out into a small smile and he fidgeted a little in his seat. "Can I... Can I stay here? Next to your bed, I mean," he asked and blushed just a little.

Kotetsu broke out into a smile himself and he gave into the temptation to pet the other's curls carefully, much like you would with a bunny's head. "'Course you can. I'm not making you go anywhere," he replied warmly.

"Thank you," Barnaby said softly and let his head drop forward onto the bed with a movement much like a flop. Kotetsu chuckled and proceeded to pet the other's head, who seemed to have no protests that his trademark curls were being messed up.

"I guess this means I have to keep you, little bunny," he hummed softly as he noticed that the blond's demes to have passed out from all the excitement.


End file.
